Nineteen year old Emily wants her college diploma fast, and she's going to get it. But when the perfect night with perfect Mitch leads her to a broken heart, Emily is blind to her vulnerability. When the person she cares about the most is hurt as a result, Emily's ambition gives way to more than a little ruthlessness. She's going to use her smarts to take care of herself and protect the people she loves, and everyone else had better stay out of her way. But shouldn't the smartest girl everyone knows realize that the ones she'd cross the line for would do the same for her? (Goodreads)

It’s no secret that I’m a lover of paranormal romances and not as big a fan of contemporary romance. I was surprised that I liked this book as much as I did, though I can’t really call it a “romance”. It’s more like a drama-filled whirlwind!

The writing was very good and descriptive where it needed to be. I did find that the dialogue between characters sometimes ran a little long and that took away from the story a bit. Some of the topics of conversation seemed irrelevant except to give background information that we didn’t necessarily need to know at the time. But overall, I enjoyed the easy flow of the writing. That’s always a plus.

I didn’t like Emily right away, though I did pick up on her understated sense of humor pretty early on. Score! I love humorous characters and Emily even had a “playful” side at times. It took some time, but she eventually grew on me. She could get so serious and so in her head at times that it often worked against her (and annoyed the hell out of me). But that made a lot more sense especially as her issues with her mother began to be revealed. That helped me understand her character and motivations a bit more.

Mitch turned out to be the mayor of DoucheVille, and though he redeemed himself by the end of the book, I didn’t think he deserved it. When Mitch was first introduced, I thought that I would like him right away and I did! He just had this easy way about him that made me just sit back and enjoy his presence in the story. But then he took a sudden turn down Jerk Lane and I was done with his ass. One stupid decision after another and I almost couldn’t stand him. Like I said, things were better by the end but it left a sour taste in my mouth.

If Mitch was from DoucheVille, Drew was the mayor of Psycho City. Never liked his cheesy, fake blah-blah from the beginning and by the end, I absolutely despised him. I loved me some Zainab, as I have a friend who is just as flaky and full of it as Z and whom I love dearly. Miranda, Richard, Martin, and oh lord, Jessie, were just great supporting characters. Really enjoyed reading about them.

The plot threw in some twists and turns I didn’t see coming, but overall, this book was a VERY realistic testament of what the trials and tribulations of relationships (in all forms) are and how these said relationships are created and maintained. At first, this book hit me the wrong way and I gave it a lower rating. But after some thought, I realized the true meaning of it and was pretty impressed. Should you read this book? Most definitely. You won’t be disappointed.